I apologize if the subject has been covered here (it probably has) I was curious just how much gasoline was left in the tank when the low level light came on. I have a 2016 RTS and typically get somewhere in the mid 30's for mileage. So on my last fill-up I zeroed out the trip meter with a full tank. 185 miles later the low level light came on. I filled the tank and found that there was just under 2 gallons of gasoline in the tank at the time of the light. That would give me some 61 miles to find the next gas station. As to the load on the engine, the miles were primarily around town and back-country roads and most miles were solo and I weigh in around 245. Of course your mileage may vary and I thought the subject was worth sharing.:riding:
It's a good idea to do this & work out roughly how much gas you think you've got left, but
please remember that you REALLY SHOULDN'T EVER RUN YOUR SPYDER/RYKER GAS TANK DRY!! :yikes: Nor for that matter, should you do it on
ANY fuel injected vehicle that has the fuel pump immersed in the gas remaining in the tank!! :lecturef_smilie:
You should always try to fill up again either before or as soon as you can after a reliably accurate gas gauge hits 1/4 of a tank, only the Spyder/Ryker gas gauges
AND their low fuel warning lights really aren't all that consistent, accurate, &/or reliable!
Refilling while there's still a '
technically usable' amount of gas left in the tank is necessary because the fuel pump relies on the gas remaining to work as both coolant and lubricant.... so if you start getting below the necessary minimum quantity of gas to carry away & disperse the heat adequately, then you are most likely starting to damage the pump; and if you
ever get to the stage that the pump sucks air, then you
HAVE damaged the pump - even if you might not be able to notice it just yet!! This damage can be microscopic initially, because it generally means that once the fuel level starts getting low, it heats up more & quickly, so that as the pumping surfaces spin past each other with miniscule separation, due to the lack of adequate coolant/lubricant between them, micro-particles on each side will be momentarily '
pressure & heat welded' onto the mating surface because they are being forced so closely together with inadequate cooling or lubrication - it's that forcing closely together feature that is what makes the pump work properly! End result is a tiny raised lump on one surface & a pit on the other that are there forever, and they are very unlikely to ever match up exactly again; so as the pump continues to rotate & each individual lump &/or pit encounters a new spot on the other mating surface, even if you've now got enough gas to act as coolant/lubricant, it'll still either rip a new hole in the mating surface or it'll degrade the pump's performance.... and it'll slooowly get worse & worse! :banghead:
So really, that bit I bolded in your post as quoted above shouldn't read:
"
That would give me some 61 miles to find the next gas station"
but rather it should say:
"
That would give me some 61 miles to begin destroying my vehicle's fuel pump!" :yikes:
And believe me, even if you don't notice it
now or even
soon, if you
EVER get below the critical level of gas remaining in the tank, a level that's
hopefully SOMEWHERE below the 1/4 full mark on the gas gauge &/or the level the Low Fuel Warning light comes on at (only remember, because of the inconsistency & unreliable/inaccurate nature of the gauges & lights on these things, your guess as to where exactly that level might actually be is as good as mine or as that of an un-trained chimp throwing darts at a gauge on the wall!
) you
WILL be damaging your pump & so degrading the potential life & performance of that pump! :lecturef_smilie:
And that's not even considering the further potential for damaging the rest of the injection system; ie, anything that uses the fuel remaining as it's coolant & lubricant! There are quite a few really critical & quite tiny components in the injection system that do actually that! :shocked:
So as others have also mentioned, I suggest that you play it safe &
ALWAYS refill early - the gas gauge & the Low Fuel Warning light should be the
LAST things you rely on - if you get that far &
only then start looking for gas, you juuust may have left it too late to avoid irreversible & cumulative damage to some very important components of your vehicle's engine! :shocked:
Just Sayin'
And I do recognise that it is your choice, cos it's your Spyder/Ryker/any other fuel injected vehicle....
